A Demon's Love
by skyshadow22
Summary: A softer side of Zabuza, the demon ninja. What happens when a ruthless, fearsome ninja falls in love? Read to find out! Warning: contains fluff and violence.
1. Chapter 1

_Let's get two things straight: I don't like romances, and this is most likely the only one I will ever write. But my girlfriend likes them, so I thought I'd give it a shot. _

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_I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. Rose is my character, though._

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Dark clouds floated across the sky, a sure sign of rain

"Great," Zabuza growled. He hated the rain. Even though his specialty was water-type jutsus, he still didn't like the idea of water falling on him from the sky. He got up from where he was laying on a grassy hill and picked up his huge sword.

He began walking. To where, he didn't know. He just wanted to find somewhere dry. He wasn't sure of where he was, only that it was somewhere in the Land of Waves. Zabuza hadn't seen a village in three days. Or was it four? He sighed at his lack of knowledge about where he was and what day it was. Then he smiled.

He loved being on his own, going wherever he wanted. He loved not being around, like back in his old village. The only part he didn't like was the fact that he had no one to talk to. It got boring sometimes. That's when he'd find a job and go kill people. That was what he loved best: the killing. He could kill whoever he wanted, and no one could stop him. Plus he got payed for some of the killings. Zabuza loved it.

After walking about two hours, he came across a forest. "This'll work," he said approvingly. He kept going until he found a large tree with lots of branches. He sat down and started dozing off. Above him, he heard a loud crash of thunder. The rain started and the sound of it pattering on the leaves lulled him to sleep.

There was screaming all around him. The air reeked with the smell of blood. People were running around everywhere. Houses burned and crumbled into ashes. Zabuza laughed insanely as he ran through the village, cutting down anyone in his path. He jumped on top of a house that hadn't been set on fire and stared down at the scene below him. He lifted his sword and looked at it. He stopped laughing. The blade was completely red with blood, and his reflection in the blade was red as well. He looked like the devil himself.

He awoke with a start and sat up. His whole body was shaking and his forehead was soaked with sweat. Everyone called Zabuza a demon, but the thought that he really was one scared him. His breathing was fast and shallow, and he sat there for a moment until it had steadied. He looked up at the sky and saw that dawn was just breaking and that there were still gray clouds floating about. He got up and started searching for food.

After a while, he came across a boar sniffing about in the bushes. He crouched down low and began crawling towards it. when he was a yard away, he took hold of the hilt of his sword and began to raise it up. Before he could bring it down, three piglets emerged from the bush and started sniffing around the boar. Zabuza realized that it must be the mother. He stared for a moment and then lowered his sword. The pigs saw him and ran away, frightened. Zabuza stood up and stared after them for a moment, then turned and walked off.

An hour later, he had started a fire and was roasting a rabbit he had killed. He ate it and sat back, satisfied. Once his food had digested, he stood up and continued on through the forest. The rain clouds were nowhere to be seen and the sun was shining brightly. Birds chirped and flew about in the air. It was a peaceful summer's day. Too peaceful, Zabuza thought. By the time the sun was going down, he had reached the other end of the forest. There was a small cabin that looked empty. He looked through the window and saw a basic home: a bed, a table and chair, a couple cabinets, and a dresser. He tried the door. It was open. Zabuza went inside and started looking around.

One of the cabinets had some cans and boxes of food in it, and the other had some bottles that looked like they contained medicine. He uncorked one and sniffed it. His nose wrinkled up and he jerked his head back. Definitely medicine. He walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. He felt his face go hot, and he slammed the drawer shut. A woman lived here. Zabuza looked out the window and saw the sun setting. He realized how tired he was, so he got into the bed and fell asleep. His sleep was undisturbed until he heard a woman scream. It took a moment for his mind to register that it wasn't a dream. His eyes popped open and he grabbed his sword, which he had left by the bed. He jumped out of the bed; or at least, he tried. He had gotten tangled up in the sheets and he fell to the floor in a heap of blanket and ninja. The sword cut his cheek in the chaos.

Zabuza looked up to see a young woman standing above him. But instead of the usual horror on someone's face when they see him, she was chuckling. This irritated him, because she was laughing at his being tangled up.

"And just what's so funny?" he barked menacingly at her.

She got herself under control and opened her watering eyes to look at him. "You are!" she said with a giggle. Zabuza's anger drained away as he looked at the woman's beautiful ice-blue eyes. He was completely stunned and felt his face getting hot again. The woman suddenly seemed to realize that Zabuza was an intruder and she backed up a couple steps. "Who are you?" she demanded, "and why are you in my house?" He was speechless and continued to simply stare at the woman.

Zabuza's mind came back and he replied, "My name is Zabuza. I'm sorry for intruding. I just needed somewhere to stay and the house was empty." He then realized he had said 'sorry' and wondered why he was being so nice. Why hadn't he cut her up already? Why was he so calm? What was this feeling in his stomach?

And then it him: he liked the woman.

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_This is supposed to be a softer side of Zabuza. It's a little different, but I thought it would be interesting. Hope you liked it!_

-S93


	2. Chapter 2

"You're Zabuza?"

The ninja nodded in reply. He was still staring into the beautiful woman's blue eyes. _Come on! Focus! _he thought to himself. _This is no time to be daydreaming! _He started going through his options in his mind. _I could go with the classic cut and run (literally), or I could keep playing the 'just passing through' game. _He sighed and made his decision. "That's right, my name's Zabuza..." he thought better than to use his real last name. "Zabuza Kurichi," he said, "Again, I apologize for intruding, I just needed a place to sleep, and no one was here."

The woman still looked suspicious, and she stood there staring for a moment longer. Then the alarm disappeared from her eyes, and she held out her hand. "Here," she said, "let me help you up." He took her hand and she pulled him up off the floor. He regained his balance and pulled off the sheets that were still hanging on him. "My name's Rose," she said politely.

"Rose," Zabuza said dumbly. He realized how stupid he was acting and regained his thoughts. "So, do you live here all by yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I like it. The peace is nice. I do get bored, though. And lonely..."

"Oh, well I guess that's to be expected," he answered.

"Um, I have a question. Why do you have such a big sword?" the alarm started to come back into her eyes. "I thought you were just passing through."

"I am, but I..." _Crap! I didn't think of that!_ "It's for self-defense," he said after thinking for a moment, "I learned sword-fighting back in my village, and with my size, a sword this big is just natural." He was relieved when she visibly relaxed.

"Oh, that makes sense," Rose said. "What village are you from?" she asked curiously.

_Uh oh,_ Zabuza thought. "Um, the Hidden...River...Village," he lied. "It's on the southern edge of the Land of Waves." _Please buy it._

"Hmm, never heard of it," she said. "Are you a Shinobi there? That's what that headband is for, right?" She pointed to Zabuza's headband, and he mentally kicked himself for not taking it off when he went to sleep. Luckily, it seemed that this woman had little contact with the outside world, so she knew little about villages and the headband symbols.

"Yeah, I am."

"Then why are you all the way out here?"

"I'm on a mission." _Okay, I'm getting back to normal. I don't have to think as long about lying._

"Oh, really! How cool!" she said enthusiastically. "What's the mission?"

"I have to go meet someone in another village."

"What's the village's name?"

"It's the Hidden Tide Village."

"Wow, I've never heard of that one either. I should probably get out more!"

"Yeah," he said absently. He was thinking about what he was going to do from here.

"Hello?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. What did you say?"

"Would you like to stay here for a while?" Rose said.

"Well, I-" Zabuza saw the eagerness and excitement in her eyes and he sighed. "Sure," he said. "I'd be happy to."

"Okay! Um, I don't have a spare bed or anything, so I guess you'll have to sleep on the floor. Sorry."

"It's alright, I'm used to it," he said casually. He remembered seeing some firewood outside. "Uh, do you need help chopping firewood?"

"Oh, well, I guess. It's kinda tough for me to do it. Thanks." She turned and opened a closet he hadn't noticed. She pulled out a broom and began to sweep the floor. The former Mist ninja picked his sword up from off the floor and walked out the door. He walked over to the firewood and stood staring at it. _What now?_ he thought. _How do I get out of this? _He lined up four pieces of firewood and raised his sword. He brought it down and looked at the four pieces, which were now eight. _Perfect_. All four pieces were cut right down the middle. He smiled and set up four more.

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The firewood clunked as it hit the floor. "Here you go."

"Oh, thanks!" Rose said as she placed two bowls on the table. There was a big pot sitting in the fireplace over a fire. "That was fast. Lunch will be ready soon. It just needs to simmer." She went and pulled two spoons out of one of the cabinets.

Zabuza looked around and saw how cozy the cabin looked now. "So, why were you out last night?" he asked curiously.

"I was out looking for some herbs. It got really late and I was pretty far from here, so I found a big tree root to spend the night in instead of walking back in the dark," she answered. "Okay! It's ready!" she said as she sniffed the pot of what smelled like vegetable stew.

For some reason, he didn't quite believe her, but he didn't really care. He was just acting friendly until he could get out of this place. Zabuza picked up his bowl and walked over to scoop some out. He stopped as he was reaching for the ladle's handle. "You first," he said as he stepped aside to let Rose have the first serving.

"Ah, what a gentleman!" she teased. She giggled and poured out some of the hot stew. He was starting to get irritated at the feeling of his face turning red, which had happened three times in the past two days. After filling his bowl to the brim, he sat down with Rose and they started eating.

Zabuza thought about what he was going to do from here on out, but he pushed the thought away as talked with the beautiful woman that he had met by chance. Or perhaps, fate.


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm sorry that it took so long to finish this, but here it is: The third and final chapter of **A Demon's Love**_.

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It was the same dream: burning houses, people screaming, maniacal laughter. Zabuza watched the familiar scene unfold in front of him, but there was something different. On the outskirts of the village was a single cabin on fire. He realized with horror that it was Rose's cabin.

Zabuza took off towards the cabin, buildings blazing all around him. When he got close, he began to make hand signs. He stopped several feet from the small structure and yelled, " Water style, Water Dragon Jutsu!" The enormous stream of water shot towards the flaming cabin. It made contact, but had no effect.

He growled and tried the Jutsu again. Still no use. Zabuza gave up on this and ran towards the little house. He broke down the door and looked around for Rose, but he saw no one in the tiny cabin. The heat was starting to get to him, so he ran back out.

"Rose!" he screamed when he got outside, "Rose! Rose, where are you!?" He was terrified about what had happened to her, and realized that he was still as hot as he was in the cabin. Zabuza ran towards the woods, thinking maybe she had run there for shelter, and trying to get away from the fire. Still running, he realized that he was getting hotter and hotter, despite being away from the fire.

Zabuza woke with a start to see that the house really was on fire. He looked around for Rose, but, like his dream, she was gone. Jumping up, he grabbed his sword and jumped through a nearby window. As his eyes adjusted to the flickering firelight in the darkness, the skilled ninja instantly took in everything around him. He saw four people dressed in solid black, one of which was restraining Rose by holding her arms behind her back.

"Zabuza!" Rose screamed, "run!"

Zabuza's instincts kicked in and in less than a second, he considered all of his options. He could make a dash for Rose, but the mysterious assailants might overtake him and then he, too, would be captured. If he used one of his Jutsus, they could kill Rose for his resistance, or she might be caught in the crossfire and be injured. Zabuza decided to be smart and negotiate.

"What do you want?" he asked the strangers.

"We want you dead," one of the men, who was standing on a tree limb, replied.

"I have a bit of a problem with that."

"We are Shinobi of the Hidden Tide Village, and we've been sent to kill you." This came from another man who stood closer to the still burning cabin.

"This woman was supposed to poison you," said the one who was restraining Rose. This one was female. "Apparently, she's too useless to even do that."

Zabuza stared at Rose in disbelief. "Rose...you..."

"It's not what you think!" she yelled.

"Silence," said the girl holding Rose's arms. She struck Rose in the gut, who collapsed to the ground.

"Rose!" Zabuza yelled as he took a step forward.

"Not another step," hissed the fourth Shinobi, who stood several feet directly in front of Zabuza. "Don't move, or we'll kill the woman."

"Leave Rose out of this!"

"Hey, don't blame us. If she'd just followed orders and given you the poison, then we would let her live. It's her fault that now you both have to die."

Zabuza once again thought of every possible course of action, and made a decision in the same instant. In one fluid movement, he drew a kunai from the pouch on his leg and threw it at the kunoichi standing over Rose. The kunai made a direct hit and killed the ninja as it stuck in her throat. "Water Clone Jutsu," said Zabuza. The duplicate that appeared dashed towards Rose, picked her up, and ran into the woods.

"After him!" yelled the ninja in front of Zabuza, who was obviously the group's leader. As the two other Shinobi took off towards the clone and Rose, Zabuza sent three shuriken flying towards them. One stuck in a tree, but the other two killed one of the pursuers.

"Pay attention," the last remaining man warned Zabuza. "You shouldn't be distracted by those weaklings. Even if they're killed, I can still go back to kill the girl myself after I've dealt with you."

"He he, don't kid yourself," Zabuza laughed. "You had to resort to poisoning me and trying to burn me alive. You're just a coward. You're afraid to confront me directly."

"Coward or not, I'll be a hero after I kill the Demon of the Mist." He drew a sword from a sheathe on his back, which Zabuza had failed to notice before.

Zabuza took a better grip on his sword, lifted it straight up, and stuck it point-down into the ground. "You aren't even worthy to be killed by my blade," he growled menacingly. "I'm going to kill you with my bare hands, you sneaky scum."

The attacker rushed at Zabuza with his sword raised, yelling what sounding like a war cry. Zabuza drew another kunai from his pouch, ducked, and stabbed the charging man in his stomach. The demon ninja smiled as his opponent collapsed to the ground. Too late did he hear the real ninja behind him. The sword sliced across his back, and he fell forward, seeing his foe's clone disappear.

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Zabuza came to around dawn. He slowly stood up, feeling the sting of his wound. _Always check to be sure your opponent's dead. Idiot ninja._ He picked up the his sword, which was still in the ground next to him. _He didn't even take my sword as proof. Guess I got lucky._

He walked into the woods a ways, until he reached a large tree, where the clone was supposed to take Rose. Zabuza found the young woman lying under the tree, still unconscious. He sat next to her, noticing the nearby bodies of last night's attackers. After an hour or so, Rose woke up coughing. Zabuza leaned forward and noticed she was coughing up blood.

"Rose..." Zabuza said as his intestines tightened and went cold.

"Zabu...za?" Rose said weakly.

"Don't talk, you'll only make it worse."

"Zabuza, listen," she said as she rolled over to look at him. Blood was running down the side of her mouth. "They told me you were some kind of monster. The way they described you, I thought it would be better if you were gone, but I didn't know you. You're not a monster, Zabuza. I'm..." she coughed again. "I'm sorry..."

"Rose, no." The ice blue eyes that looked up at him grew dim as Rose's body went limp. "No, no, no, no..." Zabuza shook his head as tears filled his eyes. He drew in his breath and screamed at the top of his lungs.

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Leaving the fresh grave behind, Zabuza walked back in the direction of Rose's cabin. When he reached the area where the house sat, he saw that the cabin had burnt down to ashes. He had apparently not noticed it when he woke up. He continued walking for another half hour and stopped. Stretching his muscles and feeling the bandage that he had wrapped around himself tighten, he looked down the hill he was standing on at the Hidden Tide Village. _Maybe some dreams do come true_, he thought as he took hold of his sword.

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_Well I hope the wait was worth it. Please review._

-SS22


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